Thien Kyu Institute of Polymer Engineering University of Akron Akron, Ohio 44325 Tel: (330) 972-6672 Fax: (330) 258-2339 e-mail: tkyu@uakron.edu

Professor of Polymer Engineering

Thein Kyu received undergraduate education at Rangoon University in Physics and Kyoto Institute of Technology with a B.S. degree in Textile Engineering. He then obtained M.S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1980) degrees in Polymer Chemistry from Kyoto University, Japan. Prior to joining the Department of Polymer Engineering in 1983 as an assistant professor, he was a post-doctoral research fellow at McGill University (1980-81) and a research associate at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1981-83). He is currently Professor of Polymer Engineering. His research interests emcompass polymer physics to engineering, specifically phase equilibria and critical phenomena in polymer blends, phase separation dynamics in reacting systems, polymer crystallization and liquid crystal phase transition, processing-structure-property relationship of semi-crystalline polymers, ionic polymers and colloidal systems. His research work has culminated in some 100 refereed publications and book chapters as well as two patents.

Current research areas and ALCOM projects

• Phase Separation: Dynamics and Morphology (primary)
• Thin Film Optics (secondary)
• Confinement Induced Phenomena (secondary)

Representative Publications

• J.C. Yang, T. Kyu, S.Z.D. Cheng, S.L. Hsu, and F.W. Harris, "Structural Evolution and Kinetics of Thermoreversible Gelation in Polyimide/m-Cresol Mixtures," Macromolecules, 27, 1861 (1994).
• C. Shen and T. Kyu, "Spinodals in a Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal," J. Chem. Phys. 102, 556 (1995).
• H.-W. Chiu and T. Kyu, "Equilibrium Phase Behavior of Nematic Mixtures," J. Chem. Phys. 103, 7471 (1995).
• H.-W. Chiu, Z.L. Zhou, T. Kyu, L.G. Cada and L.C. Chien, "Phase Behavior of a Mixture of Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymer and Low Molar Mass Liquid Crystal," Macromolecules, 29, 1051 (1996).
• T. Kyu and J.H. Lee, "Nucleation Initiated Spinodal Decomposition in a Polymerizing System," Phys. Rev. Lett., 76, 3746 (1996).
• T. Kyu and H.-W. Chiu, "Phase Equilibria of a Polymer/Smectic Liquid Crystal Mixture," Phys. Rev. E. 53, 3618 (1996).